


doesn't the night go slow?

by Fireborn



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Boys In Love, Canon Compliant, First Date (even though they claim it isn't), Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Very Mild KHIII Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2020-04-24 15:40:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19176334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fireborn/pseuds/Fireborn
Summary: Sora and Riku visit Twilight Town together for dinner and a movie. It's not a date, though. Is it?





	doesn't the night go slow?

**Author's Note:**

> Some day, I will stop writing Sora and Riku getting together fics. Today is not that day. Also, apparently I _am_ capable of writing G-rated stories about these two, so that's a relief.
> 
> This was written for the promt: "I'd like a medium or large SoRiku fic with them having some sweet moments. I prefer light and fluffy!"
> 
> So I took the light and and fluffy, and turned it into Flirty Sweet and Fluffy with Feelings™, and so here we are. This takes place post-KHIII (pretty minor spoilers), ignoring the secret ending. The title is from "Night Go Slow" by Catey Shaw, which I had on repeat for writing most of this.
> 
> Massive, massive thanks go to Green for beta-ing and making this story a million time better with her suggestions. I can't thank you enough!!
> 
> Enjoy!!

“Where are we going?” Sora asked for the tenth time, raising his voice a little to make himself heard over the low, steady rumble of the gummi ship engines.

Riku just hummed, keeping his eyes trained on the infinite galaxy in front of them. Evidently, the tenth time was the time Riku stopped responding to the question. Sora watched him from the corner of his eye as he pulled up smoothly to avoid a few smaller Heartless ships, not bothering to fire the canon this time.

"Rikuuuuuu," Sora whined. _Pay attention to me_ went unspoken at the end of the sentence.

Riku turned to look at him briefly, letting out a sigh. "I told you, Sora. It's a surprise."

"I hate surprises."

Riku barked out a startled laugh. "No, you don't. You love surprises."

Sora pouted and slid down in the passenger seat as far as the seatbelt allowed. Riku was right, of course. He loved the thrill of something new and exciting and not knowing exactly what to expect. Even now, his heart was fluttering in a nervous sort of excitement and he gritted his teeth to prevent himself from asking Riku yet again what their destination was.

Riku had suggested the outing out of the blue, after a long sparring session on their play island this morning. Sora had lost, for the third time in a row, and he was lying sprawled across the beach on his stomach, sand in his mouth, hiding his frustrated frown from the world. Then Riku had spoken up.

“You wanna do something later today?”

Sora turned his head, sand clinging to his lashes as he opened his eyes, still frowning. “Uhm. Does it involve keyblades? Cos then, no.”

Riku shook his head, smirking a little smugly, but just this side of nervous. “No keyblades involved. It'll be a surprise.”

Sora tried to blink the sand out of his eyes, intrigued in spite of himself. “A surprise? Okay.”

Riku's smirk grew into a full smile. “Meet me at the gummi ship by five. Wear something casual.”

Frustration almost forgotten, Sora had rolled over onto his side and smiled back.

But now they had been in space for the better part of forty-five minutes, and Sora was getting bored. Surprises were fun, but Sora was not known for his patience. 

He tried to keep himself entertained by glancing over to the pilot seat whenever Riku wasn't looking at him. Like right now while Riku was focused on dodging a particularly large cluster of astroids. Sora couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Riku in anything but his usual outfit, but now he was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a grey hoodie which highlighted his silver hair. Hair which was pulled back in an actual _ponytail_ , the shorter bangs at the front framing Riku's face. It was so different from usual that Sora couldn't stop his glances from lingering a little too long.

When Sora had arrived at the gummi ship, hidden amongst the paopu trees on the main island, it was ten minutes past five. Sora had _agonised_ over Riku's ‘wear something casual’. He had gone through the entire contents of his closet, scattering clothes all across the floor. He needed to find the perfect outfit to make a good impression, although Sora wasn't sure why this was suddenly important. He was never this interested in what he was wearing. But this afternoon, two hours had still not been enough time for selecting what to wear, styling his hair and twirling around in front of the mirror a few dozen times until he was satisfied.

Riku had been leaning against the ship in _that_ outfit, completed with a dark leather jacket which was now hanging across the back of his seat. Sora had frozen for a second, blinking stupidly and trying desperately to ignore the way his stomach fluttered.

Then Riku’s gaze had met his, his eyes sweeping down and back up again to take all of Sora in – including the black shorts and red hoodie Sora had eventually settled on – and Riku had stared just a few seconds too long before breaking into a small, appreciative smile. Hand slowly running across his hair, he'd told Sora _You look nice_. And just that was enough to make Sora feel like those two hours had been really well spent.

Sora forced his mind back to the present. The seatbelt was digging awkwardly into his chest, so he pushed himself into a more upright position again. Then, he exhaled dramatically, and Riku snickered next to him.

“So is this, like, a date?” Sora asked, trying to get a reaction out of Riku to help alleviate the boredom. “Is that why it's a secret?” 

Riku flushed a deep red, and huh, that was interesting. “No, it's not a date. I thought you deserved some time off after all that training Yen Sid is putting you through to get you ready for another Mark of Mastery exam. I just wanted us to spend some time together.”

“Sounds like a date,” Sora mumbled, still a little petulant, and Riku shot him a look that Sora didn't know how to interpret.

But before he could dwell on that further, a world appeared in front of them, and Sora leaned forward eagerly. As the ship came closer, Sora could make out a familiar clock tower and he grinned at Riku.

“Twilight Town!”

Riku returned the grin, eyes narrowing a little as his voice took on a soft note. “You told me you wanted to visit it together sometime.”

Sora nodded enthusiastically, leaning back into the seat. This was going to be fun. Even though he _still_ didn't know exactly what Riku had planned.

After Riku had landed the ship right in front of the Old Mansion with some careful maneuvering and they were walking through the woods in the direction of the Tram Common, Sora tried again.

“So, will you finally tell me where we're going?”

With a final sigh, Riku straightened his jacket and relented. “I thought we'd eat at that bistro you keep going on about. And then see a movie.” 

Riku's smile was bashful, and was he blushing again? 

This was a fun game, Sora thought. He should try and get Riku to blush more. It was a good look on him. Without missing a beat, Sora bumped his shoulder against Riku's, brushing warm fingertips across the inside of Riku's wrist, a small touch underneath the hem of his sleeve. Riku's blush deepened, but he didn't pull his arm away.

“Dinner and a movie, huh?” Sora wondered out loud, proud of himself for his voice coming out so casually when something had inflated his chest in a way that was unexpected, but not entirely uncomfortable.

Riku didn't look at him, gaze going from tree to tree, then up at the diffused, pinkish sky above them. He paused for a second when they got to the entrance of the underground conduit tunnel, lingering a few steps behind Sora.

“That's okay, right?”

Sora smiled cheerfully, not knowing how to label the feeling that spread out from his chest, making his skin tingle. “Are you kidding? I love food. And I love movies.”

As he got ready to jump down into the tunnel, he didn't miss the way Riku relaxed his shoulders just a little.

When they got to Le Grand Bistrot, Scrooge welcomed them at the door. “Sora! And you must be Riku. Sora told me all about you. I'm honoured to welcome you both to my humble bistro.”

“Hi, Mr. Scrooge!” Sora exclaimed, crouching down to shake the duck's hand. “It's good to see you! How are things? Is Little Chef working?”

“Yes, he sure is,” Scrooge nodded. “I'll take you to him.”

But before he could, Sora had grabbed Riku's hand and pulled him towards the back of the bistro, zigzagging around the chairs and tables and ignoring the startled looks from the other customers. He rushed through the swinging doors to the kitchen without a backwards glance and stopped next to the large table in the middle of the kitchen. He had to let go of Riku's hand in order to empty his pockets.

By the time all the sprigs of rosemary, bottles of olive oil and handfuls of mushrooms were neatly lined up on the table top, Riku was staring at him in wonder.

“Sora… How… Why do you have all of that in your pockets?”

Sora rubbed the back of his head, grinning brightly. “Uhm. It's become a bit of a habit, picking up ingredients whenever I see them? The weirder, the better.”

Riku shook his head in disbelief, but he was squinting a little, the way he did whenever he found something Sora did amusing.

By then Little Chef had spotted the pair of them from where he was stirring in a big pan of tomato soup. The rat jumped down to the table and seemed happy to see the brunet, eagerly scurrying up one arm, across his shoulders and down the other arm before turning and running another lap up and down Sora's arms.

“Hi, Little Chef!” Sora exclaimed as the rat settled in the palm of his right hand. “Looks like you're doing well!”

Little Chef nodded, then shot a questioning gaze from Sora to Riku and back again.

“Oh!” Sora said. “This is Riku. He's my best friend.”

Sora held out his hand to Riku, and Riku hesitantly offered his palm. The rat tilted his head and Riku looked a bit reluctant, but he let Little Chef run over his arms as well, before carefully setting him down on the table again.

"You remember my favourite meal, don't you, Little Chef?" Sora was eyeing the pan with tomato soup, his mouth already watering at the familiar smells of vegetables and spices.

The rat nodded eagerly.

"Can you make that for Riku and me?" 

Another vigorous nod.

"Great!” Sora exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “We won't keep you any longer then. Looking forward to it!" 

Though Riku tried to hide his mixture of astonishment and amusement, Sora could tell from the slight up turn of lips and his sudden huff of breath that Riku was trying desperately not to laugh. In fact, he was still holding back as Sora led them back to the bistro's seating area, where Scrooge was waiting for them.

They were given 'the best table in the house', and Sora had to agree with that statement. The view of the town was amazing from their window seat in the corner, overlooking the square. 

"You know, It never ceases to amazement how you can make friends with anyone," Riku said as Scrooge left to greet new customers. His amusement finally made itself known as a smile broke out over his face.

Sora beamed back. "Little Chef is the reason I can now make perfect sunny side eggs for breakfast!" 

Riku let out a quiet chuckle, and that feeling in Sora's chest expanded just a little bit more. Sora wasn't sure what to do with all this energy, so he started to point out all of the shops and the places he had visited, launching into a detailed story about his, Goofy's and Donald's endless search for all of the Lucky Emblems in this place.

“We climbed up all the way to the top of the Moogle Shop. The view was really great. Not as good as from the Clock Tower, though. But we did find a Lucky Emblem on top. It was hard to get a picture of it without falling down, but I managed in the end.”

Sora talked until their starters arrived, piping hot bowls of the tomato soup Little Chef had been working on back at the kitchen. The soup was amazing, creamy and sweet, with just the right amount of spicy. Sora closed his eyes and almost moaned as he put the first spoonful into his mouth. It was even better than he remembered.

Between the soup and the main course, Riku took over the conversation, reminiscing about his own memories of Twilight Town. They were mostly about the Mansion, the place he'd spent most of his time during the year Sora had been asleep. Sora thought Riku might have found it hard to talk about, but his voice was calm and collected, his face relaxed. Sora was content to listen as he sipped on his third (and then fourth) soda of the evening, leaning his chin on his hand and smiling a little.

It was amazing how far the both of them had come. Not that long ago, Riku would not have been able to talk about the year that Sora had been asleep without closing off, slipping into old habits, keeping Sora at arm's length.

Not anymore, though. Sora couldn't help his proud smile as Riku talked, and before he realised what he was doing, he reached out across the table to briefly squeeze Riku's hand. Their gazes met, and Riku nodded slowly as silent understanding passed between them.

Sora could smell their main course before it even arrived at their table, and as soon as he cut into his grilled steak he was ecstatic to see that Little Chef had remembered the exact way Sora liked it, just on the medium side of medium-rare. The garlic-potatoes were also grilled to perfection, and Sora was pleased to see the rosemary he'd brought sprinkled on top. 

He watched as Riku ate slowly, as if savouring every bite, lost a little in thought.

This was…really nice, Sora thought to himself. Although he and Riku spent a lot of time together these days, including relaxing on the beach after their training sessions or thinking of new magic spells or any of the other dozens of things they did together, they hadn't managed to squeeze in a lot of worlds exploration during that time. The only other world they had travelled to together recently was the Mysterious Tower to meet Master Yen Sid for lessons. Which was fine, because Sora was just happy to be wherever Riku was, no matter if that was the beach or the yard behind the Mysterious Tower. But he did want to show Riku all of the things he'd seen. Not just Twilight Town, but all of the worlds he'd visited. He realised suddenly that he had wanted this for a very long time.

He wanted to build a huge snowman with Riku in the Arendelle mountains and watch the Northern Lights together. He wondered what kind of toy Riku would be in Toy Box, would they be matching action figures? He wanted to show Riku the festival lights in Corona, release a lantern together to make a wish... No matter where he travelled, he always wondered what Riku's reaction would be. He had sent Riku countless of selfies and pictures from all over, but that was not the same. He wanted to _show_ Riku.

He started when Riku gently kicked his shin below the table.

"Huh?”

"You were miles away. What were you thinking of?" 

Sora smiled, leaning forward across the table. "When I pass the Mark of Mastery this time, let's go visit the worlds. Just the two of us."

Riku's cheeks turned a little pink again, but he didn't look away as he nodded slowly. "I'd like that."

Their plates were cleaned away, and Sora bounced in his seat. "Dessert is gonna be so good."

And it was. It was a chocolate soufflé, filled with soft, gooey chocolate sauce, and Sora forced himself to eat it slowly, bite by bite, instead of shoving the whole thing in his mouth at once.

When he was halfway done, he looked up to find Riku staring at him, eyes dark and edged with something Sora had never seen in Riku's gaze before. Sora squirmed in his seat at the intensity of it, but he couldn't look away.

“You've got some…” Riku said in a low voice, gesturing to Sora’s mouth.

“Oh,” Sora brushed a hand across his mouth. “Gone?”

Riku shook his head and before Sora realised what was happening, Riku had reached out and swiped the pad of his thumb across the corner of Sora's mouth. Sora blinked, his jaw falling open a little as Riku brought his thumb to his own mouth. Sora forced himself to keep his breathing steady as he watched Riku's tongue dart out to lick off the chocolate.

Then Riku grinned at him and it was Sora's time to blush as he looked down at the remains of his chocolate cake. _What the hell just happened?_

Once the bill had been placed on the table, Riku reached into his pocket, putting munny on the table. Scrooge hurried over, looked at the munny with a bit of what Sora could only call longing, before waving for Riku to put it back. 

“It's my treat, lads. Donald told me what you two did to save the worlds and all. I suppose I can let you eat free, just this one time!”

After dinner, Sora was restless, giddy, and as they walked across town he felt a little bolder, hyped up on the ridiculous amounts of sugary drinks and chocolate cake. Riku was talking again, something about the latest accessories to increase magic strength, but Sora's brain was too preoccupied with other things to really pay attention. Their hands brushed every other step, but neither of them increased the distance between them. So when Riku's hand brushed his for the fifteenth time, Sora extended his fingers and tentatively curled them around Riku's palm.

Riku fell silent, but he completed the movement so their hands were joined together, swinging a little between them with every step. The giddy feeling in Sora's stomach multiplied and he moved closer to Riku's side.

They only let go of each other when they arrived at the small outdoor cinema in the corner of the square. Riku slid a hand into his pocket, reaching for munny to pay for their tickets.

“Wait,” Sora exclaimed, putting his hand on Riku's elbow to stop him from handing over the money to the boy behind the cash register. “I can pay for the tickets. You already offered to pay for the food!”

“Only I didn't, because we got the food for free.”

Sora grinned. “But still. You wanted to, so let me…” He dug his hand into his pocket, but then his face fell. “Ah. Uhm…”

Sora sighed as he slowly removed his hand from Riku's elbow.

“You spent all of your munny on keyblade upgrades again, didn't you?” Riku smirked.

Sora looked up at him with a pout. “I totally needed that upgrade for Starlight. You beat me three days in a row.”

Riku’s smirk widened as he handed over the munny and they received two movie tickets in return. “And it still didn't work, did it?”

Sora's pout deepened. “Only cos you cheated.”

“Using grand magic is _not_ cheating, Sora,” Riku teased.

“It is when it's a _keyblade_ sparring match,” Sora huffed and crossed his arms, but his indignation was quickly forgotten when he noticed Riku reach out to ruffle his hair. He had to duck down quickly, because he had _not_ spent more than an hour getting the spikes just right only for Riku to mess them up.

“C'mon. Let's find our seats,” he said, ducking a second time to avoid Riku's hand when it passed over his head again to return to his side. “You can buy me snacks to make up for your cheating.”

Riku laughed as he followed Sora to the concession stand. “I'm not sure I should be feeding you any more sugar.”

Sora shot him a grin over his shoulder. “So buy me salty popcorn.”

The movie was just about to start when Riku returned, and Sora reluctantly agreed to share the popcorn. The reluctance quickly turned into something else entirely when he noticed that sharing popcorn resulted in their hands brushing against each other as they both reached into the bucket. 

Soon enough, though, the movie started, and Sora got distracted again. It was fun, if a bit weird. It was some animated movie about a spikey-haired boy who was trying to escape from a giant's house. Sora got so into it that he all but forgot about the popcorn, oh-ing and ah-ing at all the right places.

When the movie was finished, he turned to Riku with wide eyes, only to find Riku already staring at him, green eyes gentle and shining even in the dark.

“That was fun,” Sora sighed happily.

“It was.”

Sora got the feeling that Riku wasn't talking about the movie, though.

“Now what?”

Riku hummed. “We could walk around some more. You probably know this place better than I do. Anything you wanna see?”

Sora got up so quickly that Riku started a little in his seat. “C’mon,” Sora said enthusiastically. “I know the perfect spot.”

This time it was Riku who laced their fingers together as they walked across town, and Sora was beginning to admit to himself why his breath quickened just a little and why his palm was so warm against Riku's. To distract himself, he kept talking about how funny the movie had been. 

The conversation kept going until they got to Station Plaza. Once they reached the large staircase that led to the top of the clock tower, they paused. 

Sora glanced sideways towards Riku, who raised his eyebrows and Sora knew they were thinking the same thing.

“When I say go,” Sora grinned. “Three, two, one, go!”

They took off at the same time. Riku was faster at the start, but Sora was quicker to turn the corners of the staircase. He would jump into the wall and push off with two feet, giving himself a boost to propel himself past Riku.

Flight after flight of stairs flew by.

It was a close race. Right at the end, just before the darkened staircase began to give way to an orange and pink sky, Sora pushed off against the wall for a final time, knowing he'd have the speed to pass Riku and beat him to the top. Only then he felt a hand grab his ankle and he was stopped mid-air. He held out his hands to break his fall, flailing, a whiny _Rikuuuu_ on his lips before they tangled together in a heap of limbs on the stairs.

It was Sora who came out on top, pinning Riku to the steps beneath him. The rough edges of the concrete were pressed painfully against his bare knees, but he could not let up now that he was in this position.

Riku was laughing below him, breathing hard, sweaty silver hair plastered across his forehead. Sora's heart was racing as he bent down.

“That was _cheating_ ,” Sora spat out indignantly.

“You didn't specify the rules. Can't break the rules if there aren't any.” 

Riku gave him a smug look and Sora punched at his shoulder. They stared at each other for long moments, the sound of their rough breathing the only noise in the darkish space. Sora's heart was in his throat, his eyes wide. He was trying to come up with something witty to retort, but his mind was uncharacteristically blank.

Before he could dwell on it too much, though, Riku shoved him off, scrambled to his feet and dashed up the final few steps to the top.

“I win,” he smirked.

Sora pouted and glared up at Riku from where he was crumbled against the wall in a heap, and then Riku _giggled_. 

Riku _never_ giggled.

He came down again to help Sora up, and Sora accepted his extended hand. Riku was smiling again and it was hard to be mad at him when he was looking like that, all flushed cheeks and dishevelled hair falling out of his ponytail and the hood bunched up against his neck. Before he could stop himself, Sora reached up to pull the hood out from underneath the jacket, laying it flat against his shoulders. His fingers brushed the skin at Riku's neck and he felt the shiver that ran through Riku at the contact.

“I like your hair like this.” The words slipped out before Sora could stop them, and he pulled his hand back, a little embarrassed.

But Riku just looked pleased, before smoothing a hand down Sora's hoodie, brushing away the worst of the dust and dirt.

"C'mon," Sora said, a little breathless. "I wanna see the sunset."

They settled down, side by side, their backs against the warm bricks of the tower, looking out across the railway and the ever-setting sun in the distance. Neither of them spoke, but the silence was comfortable between them.

There was only an inch of space between their arms, and Sora wanted to close that distance to lean his head against Riku's shoulder. But something held him back. His eyes followed the train slowly moving across the bridge to Sunset Hill, looking but not really seeing. Wind blew his bangs into his eyes, but he barely noticed.

Sora mentally went through the whole evening, replaying in his mind the way Riku had leaned casually against the gummi ship, how he had wiped away chocolate from Sora's mouth, the way his hand had felt, warm and strong in Sora's as they walked across the town square. Sora's stomach did a few flipflops and he sighed.

The thought that had been lingering in his head all afternoon and evening, nudging at the edges, was now brought to the front of his mind with crystal clarity. Like someone had flipped a light switch and set his whole world alight and everything suddenly _clicked_.

He glanced sideways, and he knew with certainty that he would have to be the one to say it. If tonight had made one thing clear, it was that Riku wouldn't.

Sora bit his bottom lip and gathered all of his courage. 

"Riku?" 

Riku hummed next to him. Sora took a deep breath. Paused. And pressed on before he could change his mind.

"I wanted it to be a date," he said gingerly on the exhale, not taking his eyes off the railway bridge in the distance. His heart was hammering in his chest, goosebumps prickling his skin.

Then Riku was quiet for so long that Sora was beginning to wonder if he had heard him at all. But when he turned his head to check, he froze.

Riku was looking into the distant setting sun, and he was blinking too fast, his eyes wet with unshed tears. 

"Riku..." Sora said softly, more than a little confused by this turn of events. Had he been reading things wrong after all?

He curled his right hand into a fist, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth. He wanted to reach out to touch Riku so much, but was that what Riku wanted? He tried to hold himself back, waiting for Riku to turn to him, but he couldn't _not_ touch Riku when Riku was sad. He lifted a hesitant hand to his friend's shoulder.

And Riku just broke. He surged forwards and wrapped his arms so tightly around Sora's shoulders that Sora couldn't breathe for a second.

“Riku?” Sora choked out.

Riku eased his hold a little, but didn't let him go. This close, Sora could smell the leather, felt the warmth of Riku's breath, the wetness of his tears against his neck, and he closed his eyes, revelling in the moment. Although he was still not sure why Riku was crying. Until…

“Me too, Sora…”

And _oh_...

Sora pulled back, bringing both hands to Riku's face, and put their foreheads together. His cheeks nearly hurt from how wide his grin was, and he let out a small sigh, trying to get a hold of his own emotions. But he saw it clearly now. Riku's eyes were still wet, but they gleamed with a renewed intensity. He wasn't sad. He was _happy_.

Sora grinned stupidly, overwhelmed by the amount of affection in Riku's gaze. He brushed away the bangs that had fallen across Riku's forehead, and time seemed to slow when Riku's eyes went soft through his tears. For a long, glorious moment it felt like they were stuck in the scene of a romantic movie.

“It kinda was a date, though,” Sora murmured into the space between them.

“It kinda was, yeah,” Riku replied softly.

They turned back to face the sunset. Sora pressed closer to Riku, burying himself against Riku's side, where it was warm. Riku's arm wrapped tightly around his waist.

As far as first dates went, Sora didn't think he could picture one better than this.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments make me happy!
> 
> Also, come find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/fortheloveinyou) because I love squeeing about Sora and Riku with people.


End file.
